Tue 4 Jun 2019, 06:52 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Tom Smith, Newport West Labour Party
I talk with a lot of worker Brexiteers. The one thing that they detest are politicians and scaremongering. When the vote was taken and the Brexit vote was established, workers did not see the collapse of the economy that Osbourne in particular was forecasting. One worker put it like this: “I was told,” he said, “that the house next door would go up in flames if I voted Brexit, so I voted Brexit. The house suffered a few broken windows but did not go up in flames, the pound fell. The politicos lied to me and now I do not believe a single word they say”.
Workers have long memories and have not forgotten the expenses scandal. Troops were dying in Afghanistan for the right of an MP to claim for a bag of horse manure.
And so we see Farage fill a gap, and with no programme, to win the recent elections. I saw no particular enthusiasm for the election, but what I did see was stubbornness and a hatred for parliament. The language was blue, as I had a few debates outside the polling station.
Workers have no interest in figures. GDP, trade deficit, an interest rate rise, were of no interest whatsoever. Workers need what I call ‘street facts’. Trump’s visit is a case in point. The privatisation of the NHS, chlorinated chicken and vegetables washed in chlorine, rat hairs, rat droppings, mould, worms and maggots in various food products. Pesticides used in America that are banned in Britain, hormones in beef and pork and Genetically Modified food items sold in supermarkets, what a future!
The labour movement has to find an approach to getting verifiable facts to workers. As a shop steward, most workers I met understood a wage rise, jobs in the building industry to build houses, sick pay, holiday pay, petrol prices and mortgages. We have to build transitional demand on the bread and butter issues if we are to have any chance of winning workers back to Labour.
So I have campaigned against a no-deal Brexit LED BY THE TORIES. World recession is now a talking point in the right wing media. Global warming is on the minds of the young. Inside or outside the EU workers will face these two brick walls. Therefore I used Labours compromise to hammer home the need for a socialist Europe. I warned that a compromise or remain cannot avoid a crisis. We need articles on the website that show that leaving with no deal on a capitalist basis is a nightmare and remaining would similarly be so.
Finally, I explained the dangers of an American trade deal. Britain is so weak that it cannot stand up to Trump: that is impossible. If America is taking on Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Mexico and the might of China, what hope have we with negotiations led by Johnson or Hunt? Even capitalist commentators are openly saying that the UK will come off second best.
Of course a note like this is no substitute for a perspective of European capitalism and the UK. These are notes from street talk as I have tried to awaken interest of the voters as I meet them.
